Liverpool’s NOVELTY ISLAND Shares Anxieties For The Future On New Single ‘The Only Train Driver In England’ Out Now
Stream and share - https://ffm.to/noveltyislandtraindriver
‘Jigsaw Causeway’ Debut Art Gallery Exhibition
Launch event - 3rd October 2025 @ Bridewell Studios & Gallery, Liverpool
Exhibition runs 4th - 10th October 2025
Winter 2025 UK Headline Tour Dates On Sale Now
Tickets - https://www.novelty-island.com/live
New Album Jigsaw Causeway Released 3rd October 2025 via 9x9 Records
Preorder - https://www.9x9records.co.uk/shop
Liverpool’s Novelty Island (aka Tom McConnell) are pleased to reveal their new single ‘The Only Train Driver In England’, out now on all good digital service providers via Ripe Records.
‘The Only Train Driver In England’ has nowhere to go. He whistles to himself, wondering what’s the point? Bouncing along with the rhythm of a lost train, the new single is crammed full of woozy, bluesy Canned Heat-inspired guitars and a blast of uneasy John Lennon-esque lyrics.
“This one is quite autobiographical,” McConnell shares of the new single. “Train stations often link with moments of loss. ‘The Only Train Driver in England’ is about my anxieties for my own future, particularly the ending stream of consciousness. I wrote 32 little lines for that but when I got to record it, I realised I needed 64, so I swapped them all around for the second go around, piling anxieties on top of anxieties…”
‘The Only Train Driver In England’ is the latest single to be taken from their forthcoming new album Jigsaw Causeway, set for release on 3rd October 2025 via Liverpool independent labels 9x9 Records (vinyl) and Ripe Records (digital).
As with the rest of his back catalogue, the new album will feature McConnell’s artwork in a range of styles, from papier-mâché sculptures, to lo-fi animation and claymation, inspired by the songs. These works also feature on the artwork for the singles and the album sleeve, which is made from over 50,000 jigsaw pieces.
The band also recently announced details of their debut art gallery exhibition ‘Jigsaw Causeway’ running from 4th–10th October 2025 at Bridewell Studios & Gallery, Liverpool, with an exclusive launch event at the gallery on 3rd October 2025 from 7.30pm.
Inspired by the fuzzed-out, woozy production of Grandaddy, Beck and Boards of Canada, new album Jigsaw Causeway is a darker collection of surreal, melancholic lo-fi pop songs than previous NI releases.
Lead single ‘Rainy’ and follow-up releases ‘Foam Animals’ and ‘Northern Nowhere’ were released earlier this year, with radio play from Nathan Shepherd at BBC Radio 6Music and a swathe of underground tastemaker support from Shiding! Magazine, Soundsphere Magazine, Maximum Volume Music and more.
Recently announced Winter 2025 UK headline tour dates are also on sale now (see below for listings).
Exhibition Dates:
OCT 3RD - LIVERPOOL - BRIDEWELL STUDIOS AND GALLERY (Launch)
OCT 4TH—10TH - LIVERPOOL - BRIDEWELL STUDIOS AND GALLERY (Exhibition Run)
UK Headline Tour Dates:
OCT 25TH - LIVERPOOL - THE BLUECOAT
NOV 07TH - STOKE - THE ARTISAN TAP (w/ The Orange Alert)
NOV 08TH - NEWCASTLE - THE COMMON ROOM
DEC 04TH - LEEDS - HYDE PARK BOOK CLUB
DEC 05TH - MANCHESTER - THE CASTLE HOTEL
DEC 11TH - BIRMINGHAM - HARE & HOUNDS
DEC 13TH - LONDON - THE VICTORIA
Tickets - https://www.novelty-island.com/live
Jigsaw Causeway album tracklist:
Jigsaw Causeway
Someone Disappearing
Apollo
Floating
The Only Train Driver In England
An Orange Goodbye
Novelty Island online:
https://www.novelty-island.com
https://www.instagram.com/_noveltyisland
https://www.tiktok.com/@noveltyisland
https://www.facebook.com/noveltyisland
https://www.youtube.com/@NoveltyIsland
https://www.patreon.com/c/noveltyisland
https://noveltyisland.bandcamp.com
More info:
Novelty Island began at Abbey Road in 2019 while McConnell was studying at Abbey Road Institute. They released 2 EPs in 2020 and recorded songs for their first two albums, How Are You Coping With This Century? and Wallsend Weekend Television, at Abbey Road's Studio 2 and Studio 3, RAK and Damon Albarn's Studio 13.
Both albums were released on Think Like A Key (USA/Worldwide) and 9X9 Records (UK) on CD / Vinyl / Cassette. These releases, along with the 2024 Taped Over EP, have received great support from BBC 6Music, BBC Introducing, Absolute Radio, Shindig, Tim's Twitter Listening Party, MOJO Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, RnR, The Fader, NARC, Bandcamp and more.
The Novelty Island live band have performed at Glastonbury, Moseley Folk Festival, and Sound City Liverpool. Their surreal prop-filled show has taken them on multiple headline tours with sell-out hometown Liverpool shows and support slots with Sea Power, The Pale White, Scott Lavene, The Dream Machine, Trudy & The Romance, Demob Happy, High Llamas and Wesley Gonzalez. In 2023, McConnell toured Novelty Island as a solo act with an animated TV supporting China Crisis and joined the Outsider Artists agency roster.
Prior to Novelty Island, McConnell's TV ME and Tom Low projects toured supported Mercury-nominee C Duncan, BC Camplight and Flyte, performed at Green Man Festival and worked with Deltasonic Records and Bill Ryder-Jones. A Tom Low-released EP recorded entirely on a phone received critical acclaim from CLASH, Bido Lito, and BBC 6 Music.
Before these projects, McConnell performed under his own name, supporting legendary acts around the UK like Squeeze, Glenn Tilbrook, Ian McCulloch & lan Brodie, Steve Cradock and China Crisis among many others. He was also endorsed by Hofner Guitars and shared online by Paul McCartney's official social media channels.
